Society for Propagating
Christian Knowledge among the Indians of North America

Variant name:

new formed Society in and about Boston

Address:

Boston, Massachusetts

Description:

The Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge among the Indians of
North America (called by Chase the Society for Promoting etc.) was a
missionary society formed in Boston in 1762 ostensibly to counter the
Anglican Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts.
Charles Chauncy's feud with Eleazar Wheelock may also have played a
role. The Society tried to compete with Wheelock for the Peter Warren
legacy distributed by the MA General Assembly, and also tried to
replicate his plan for educating Indian boys in colonists' homes, and as
Chauncy was very involved in organizing it, taking money from Wheelock
was probably an added perk. We should not, however, conclude that all
members of the Society were conspiring to ruin Moor's Indian Charity
School: it is much more likely that they were conspiring to interfere
with Anglican missionary efforts. The Society was comprised of clergymen
and laymen, including all members of the Boston Board of the Society in
Scotland for Propagating Religious Knowledge. The Society...among the
Indians of North America petititoned the crown for incorporation, but
was denied. Members of the Society believed that the Archbishop of
Canterbury had ruined their petition, although the Lords of Trade
pointed to inconsistencies in their financial records. It is likely that
both shoddy organization and religious politics played a part in
Parliament rejecting their incorporation. In 1787, the remaining members
of the Society petitioned the General Assembly of MA for incorporation
and received a charter.

Chase, Frederick. A history of Dartmouth College and the
Town of Hanover, New Hampshire. 1891. McCallum, James. The Letters of
Eleazar Wheelock’s Indians. Dartmouth College Press 1932. Thatcher,
Peter. “Historical Sketch.” In The Society for Propagating the Gospel
Among the Indians and Others in North America, 1787-1887. The Society,
1887. Accessed via GoogleBooks.